The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - April 5, 2002

As I write this, I am in Vancouver, BC in a pleasant hotel room overlooking the harbor. It has been a brilliantly clear day. The mountains are "out." the tulips and daffodils are popping up, the trees are covered with pink blossoms and all is right with the world. Spring is so cool!

AND YOU THINK YOUR LIFE IS TOUGH
As some of you may recall, I was in Israel for a few days last year. The trip was far too short but the highlight was spending some time with Steve Lobel, a partner in several very innovative local restaurants. I dropped him a line a few days ago just to see how he was holding up in light of the recent escalation of violence in his country. His response should offer a bit of perspective for us all.

Thanks for your caring concern. We are all feeling very despondent and worried, constantly looking over our shoulders. We are very careful about where we go and more important, where we allow our children to go during the 3 week Passover break. Business has dropped, especially in restaurants, as quite a lot of terrorist suicide bombings have been in restaurants. We have now put armed guards outside all of our restaurants! Most businesses now have armed guards at the entrances. We are praying for a solution to this. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be near...

SALADS REVISITED
I received this suggestion from Doug Cavanaugh, President and CEO of the Ruby Restaurant Group, a growing chain of diner-like operations based in Southern California:

I read with interest you piece on too much dressings on Caesar salads and I totally agree. Here's a little tidbit you might find interesting passing on. If the lettuce is "spun" or dried with a centifugal spinner, you will find the required dressing is dramatically less, it coats the lettuce much better, and overall, renders a dramatically better salad.

NICE IS . . . NICE
Finally, in my collection of third party comments, this tidbit from Max Hitchins, Aussie marketing guru, soon to be in the US of A at the Seattle Super Summit, April 29-30.

"All things being equal people prefer to do business with people they like and all things being not quite so equal people still prefer to do business with people they like. So learn to be likeable." These are the words of Mark McCormack in his book Things they Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School.

"So what's the key to being likeable?" your staff may ask. Perhaps the best answer to this question is to learn how to ask 'open' questions as distinct from 'closed' questions. OPEN questions begin with "How" "Why" "In what way..." and "Tell me about..." If you ask an open question it allows the other person to give you a longer response and is more likely to put them at ease.

In contrast, CLOSED questions are interrogative. They begin with Are, Do, Did, Who, When, Where, Which, Will and Is. If you ask questions beginning with these words you will more than likely get a one word answer. You will make little headway with guests if you ask a series on 'closed' questions. As well they will possibly regard you as impertinent and offensive.

A note from the Doc:
Now you have something to discuss at your next staff meeting. This is also not a bad idea as it relates to management/staff interactions.

If you REALLY want something to kick you into an entire new reality, join us at the first-ever Hospitality Masters Super Summit. There is still seats available but attendance is limited. For the full story, go to http://www.hospitalitymasters.com.

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